Today’s Blogtember prompt: Pass on some useful advice or information. I am pretty good at this. I excel at offering unsolicited advice, or at least thinking about it and then making a herculean effort not to butt in.

Fifty Things To Keep In Mind
Helpful Tips for Life, Art, And Blogging

1. Do it now. (Thank you, Gretchen Rubin.)

2. Originality lies not in concept but in execution. No two people will do the same thing the same way.

3. You are not the only one, there are plenty of people who share your “unpopular” opinion, and being a snowflake is pretty lonely anyway.

4. You’re allowed to cut toxic people out of your life. You’re allowed to cut toxic people out of your life. You’re allowed to cut toxic people out of your life.

Today’s Blogtember prompt asks: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do?

The truth is, I don’t need three months off from my life. I’ve had several years off from it! I’m not tied up or weighed down by work, education, significant others, children or any sort of hometown love or pride. If I left, I’d miss my sister and my mom and my cat, but that’s about it. My problem is I can’t afford to fund most of what I’m going to do.

So here’s the question I’m going to answer: If money weren’t an issue, how would you change your life?

The answer is really easy: I would rent an apartment, jump on a plane, and move to the UK with my best friend.

Today’s Blogtember prompt is: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

I don’t feel any particular connection to my country and I don’t think there’s much about family I could talk about that defines me. So I’m going to tell you some things that I think will help you understand me or know me better.

This is the most personal, longest post I’ve made since I moved blogs, so I really hope it doesn’t go over too badly! Also, it is by no means required reading, but I’ll definitely appreciate it if you do read — and sorry about all the long paragraphs. I kind of let loose in here. I blame my Internet for being down for two hours.

Since I decided to participate in TravelTuesday, I’ve come up with about a dozen ideas for posts I could make. I’ve only been outside my country twice, three weeks in September 2007 in London and three weeks in July 2008 in Oxford (with one-day stops in Brighton and London). I didn’t buy my DSLR until May 2008, so my first time in London isn’t as thoroughly (ridiculously) documented in pictures as my time in Oxford and it only makes up one of those ideas… but I’ve chosen it as the one to start with. My reasoning for it is pretty simple: it’s September, I love London, and the fact that these photos were taken with a cheap point-and-shoot and aren’t as numerous as the 14 GB (no kidding) of fantastic-quality photos I have from July 2008 made it much simpler and a better option for easing into Travel Tuesday.

So this is how I got started in traveling and travel photography: alone in London on a scholarship with a cheap point-and-shoot. I fell in love, and I’ve wanted to live in England ever since.

This is my first post for the 30×30 remix challenge! I’ll be sharing a list of the items I picked sometime this week as well. For my first outfit, I was fairly lazy — as usual — and paired up a comfortable dress with a flower crown I got in May and hadn’t yet got around to wearing. I had the pleasure of working with Mary Katherine from The Evergreen Nest on Etsy — highly recommend you check out her shop if you like flower crowns or anything fairy-related! My bracelet was also made by an Etsy seller, Melissa of You Can Sparkle.

Back to this outfit, this is the first time I’ve shot a full-body outfit since around May; I’m a bit rusty. I really need to find a guinea pig to model for me so I can learn how to do this then transfer the info onto my mom (and use it myself once I’ve got a tripod. Oh, if only). But it was fun and an excellent start to the month to get going right away on all my projects.

It’s time for a new Weekly Wishes post! This is how I did on last week’s goals:

√ Keep up the daily blogging — half check. Had a hard time finding alone time, but I did get tons of ideas for future posts and I did post four times and kept up with my Bloglovin’ feed, so I’m satisfied.

√ Make a big dent in my product photography to-do list — check. I’m nowhere near done, but I got started and I feel a lot better about my ability to get through my open orders in a timely fashion — and my abilities as a product photographer as well.

Work exercise into routine tasks — 95% fail. Will keep trying.

√ Go to sleep before 2 AM — check. Actually, I never did go to sleep before 2 AM (except last night, total coincidence) but I feel like my sleep schedule’s improved considerably. Then again, things were so out of hand that going to bed at anything resembling bedtime would have been an improvement, so take that with a grain of salt. The point is I feel like I succeeded.

Open my graphic design shop on Etsy — fail. But I’ll get to it this month. Maybe even this week.

This week’s goals:

Get modeling. For product photography and outfit posts. I have things to shoot and I’d like to get photographs of at least four of my 30×30 challenge outfits this week. I’m going to toss vlogging under this umbrella too.

Get organized. Get my new blog planner ready through September, start my bookkeeping notepad, start e-mailing Indiegogo contributors for info on what they want (print, fabric, size). Sort out my jewelry shelf and the shelf above my bed; maybe my wardrobe as well (oh, that’s daunting) and my desk drawers (a little, again). Recycle the box my MacBook Air came in (not the MBA box, but the box that box was in) and the papers I’ve been tossing inside.

I’ve been waiting for September since June, and it has — to my surprise — not disappointed! It’s cooler now, I’m able to think, I feel human for at least a combined hour every day (big change from July and August), and my sister’s going back to school soon and leaving me alone.

Basically, it’s the perfect time to be ambitious, and I don’t always feel that way so I’m running with it. For starters, I’m putting two notebooks I’ve been holding onto — an A4 lined notepad I bought in Oxford (in 2008, shut up) and which I cannot find anything like here, and a gorgeous journal I’m shooting for Watermark Bindery — to good use: I’m going to start keeping track of my finances, such as they are, on the big notepad, and I’m turning the Watermark Bindery journal into a blog planner.

I also have a running to-do list on a little travel-themed notebook I bought at a store, and then I have this other steel gray notebook where I used to have a running to-do list until I decided to start over. Now I use it to jot down notes for lists I’ll make elsewhere. Stationery is awesome and I’m weird. Bear with me.

Here are some things you can look forward to seeing on the blog this month:

1.The 30×30 remix challenge. 30 pieces of clothing to make 30 outfits. I’ve picked out what I’ll be using, and I’m excited to start putting outfits together! I haven’t decided if I’ll post one every day, but given the limited cool weather garments on my list, I’d definitely like to have everything up by the end of October. Then I can do it again with cozier clothes… or kickstart a closet cosplay challenge.

2. In fact, I have two ideas that I really love for fun link-up challenges, and they’re both in the area of outfit posts. One is a weekly geeky thing; the other one would be monthly and involve matching people in pairs. This month I’d like to flesh out these ideas and perhaps find someone with a larger following and/or a tighter focus on style to co-host them/run them with me. Interested? Leave a comment here or shoot me an e-mail!

3.Blogtember! Jenni from Story Of My Life is running a blog-every-working-day challenge, and I’m going to be participating on and off. Not all the prompts call out to me, but I love the ones that do!

4.Travel Tuesday: I had it in my head that I couldn’t possibly play in Travel Tuesday (as hosted by Belinda of Found Love, Now What? and Bonnie of A Compass Rose) because I haven’t stepped out of my city in… a while, but it occurred to me last week that I have a massive number of pictures from the time(s) I was in England, and I could easily focus on corners and themes and show you guys all the little details that haven’t made it into my shop yet (though they might!). There’s a lot of pretty in these folders that needs to see the light more often, so I’ll be nudging it out.

5. I’ll also be sticking with my Weekly Wishes and Friday Loves posts. In addition to Friday Loves — well, you may have noticed I have a “Showcase” section. I’d like to get some action in there this month, and I already have a few shops — all handmade Etsy sellers for now — in mind that I want to highlight. I’ll be honing my interviewing skills as well — or rather finding out if I have any! Should be really fun for me, and if I can match a shop I love with a new customer, all the better!

6.Vlogging: I’ve finally got over my block regarding coming up with ideas for vlogs, and I have lots! I haven’t been able to film any due to problems getting enough alone time to stay sane (thanks, baby sister) but once school starts up, I should be able to get into a nice habit of vlogging mid morning — when the lighting in my room is coincidentally really nice.

7.Crafts: I need to get back into sewing as soon as possible, and make my photo-printed fashion collection a reality! I won’t be sharing any tutorials or anything of the kind for the time being — I’m far too new for that! — but at some point I’d like to compile some links I’ve found helpful for you guys. In the meanwhile, you can always follow my DIYs & ideas board on Pinterest.

In addition to all of that, I want to catch up on open orders and as many Indiegogo rewards as I can, and open my graphic design shop. I’ve even got plans for a couple of freebies (and perhaps a giveaway!) to celebrate with you all. ;) And I’d like to figure out this having-sponsors thing — starting with switching to manual coding (or possibly Adproval, we’ll see).

In just a few words, it’s going to be a busy month, and I’m really excited about finally doing something. Lots of somethings, in fact. I’m always much more motivated when I’m super busy.

Do you have any ambitious plans for September? Let’s cheer each other on!

I am also wallowing in my rain photos and matching phone cases and cards. There was a huge loud storm two nights ago and it was so refreshing. I also used one of those mini cards in an order for my Signs of Wear print, which I picked up and packed up yesterday – and I have two yards of printed cotton poplin waiting to be made into a skirt whenever I feel ready to jump back into sewing.

This probably makes very little sense, but I like it when everything feels gray – stripped of all its negative connotations, just the color. I don’t know if there’s a correlation between my love for rain and my love for all things gray – especially clothing and architecture – but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there is!

What are you loving this week? Are you feeling any particular color? ;)

These are the paws of a cat who likes to get in the way of his momma’s shooting.

I was vaguely planning on doing an outfit post, but then I saw the Photo Gallery theme on Sticky Fingers this week was “pets,” and what do you know, I happened to take a good dozen pictures of mine today! I don’t actually go after him with my camera (anymore), but I spent most of my morning taking pictures of things, and he spent most of his morning trying to leap onto the shelf behind my desk chair. (He succeeded. Twice. Once I was around to get him down; the second time I was out ordering prints and accidentally buying two pairs of flats, and I came home to see my shelf mirror lying on the floor. Miracle that it was intact given it fell down four shelves and two drawers.)

So, my cat: his name is Oxford, he’s a common house cat as far as I know, and on September 19th I will have had him for a whole two years.

Late and brief this time. I feel like my #1 weekly wish this week should be: do not sleep any more days away! Because I kind of slept right through Monday. I’m so sorry, world. I’m so sorry, me.

How I did on last week’s wishes: I blogged every day! I vlogged twice, too. I stretched on and off, which is something. But I totally failed at taking pictures regularly. I may not have taken a single shot. I am a disaster. But the weather’s getting better (read: cooler) and that can only mean good things for my productivity and general ability to behave like an adult human.

This week’s goals:

1. Keep up the daily blogging! I’ve been doing well, but I want to keep this as a daily wish another week or two, just in case. I’d like to put up a couple more videos this week (maybe one with singing! and guitar! I’m thinking one of the April Smith songs I know well, to start with), and I want to pick an outfit challenge to start in September (help me choose?). I’d also like to figure out how I’m going to approach the sponsorship thing going forward – it’s totally new to me and yeah, sidebar ads are easy enough, but there’s gotta be more than that! Need to think on that.

3. Work exercise into routine tasks. This occurred to me on Sunday and I started doing it right away. Basically, exercise – especially the little-bits way I do it – doesn’t have to be its own thing, and it’s easier for me to do if I integrate it into other tasks. I can do straddle stretching while I’m working on my laptop in bed; I can do the butterfly while I play with my iPod; I can stretch my knees while I wash my hair or wait for my coffee to heat up; I can do batches of dips when I walk in and out of my room (I put my hands on the footboard of my bed). So I’m going to try and do that.

4. Go to sleep before 2 AM. As to avoid, you know, yesterday. And all those times I’m awake at night and sleep in the day. I can’t force myself to get out of bed in the morning (I have a really hard time doing that, anyway) but I can make myself go to sleep at a decent hour. I am not an owl! Also, I like mornings. Also, I need daylight for most of my work. So let’s be awake during it.

5. Open my graphic design shop on Etsy. Fill out the policies, come up with something to list so I can open the thing*. Any ideas? (Want me to design something for you? Let me know! You could be my first listing!)

* I used my own referral code to sign up as lixhewettdesign – that means my first 40 listings there are free, and when the shop opens, I’ll get 40 free listings for my photography shop as well. I really, really want those so I can list more photos (like the ones I’ve used for Weekly Wishes art) and phone cases. I know listing fees are small, but they seem kind of scary when you’re as broke and lacking in a regular source of income as I am.

You’ll notice that looks a lot like last week’s list – and that would be because it does. Still working on building back those good habits. Normalcy wasn’t built in a day, and all that. I did feel human again for a few brief moments last week, so there’s hope!